Cairns

Cairns
is the
second largest city in north
Queensland and the only city
anywhere near Cape York. It has lots of things to see and do, some
great day trips
and other activities,
excellent accommodation,
and it's one of
the best places to take a tour
to the Great Barrier Reef. Cairns is not on the real peninsula, and
the same goes for Mareeba and Port Douglas. But because many
people start their Cape York trip
in Cairns, and drive through Mareeba and/or Port Douglas, I included
them in this website and the guides (pocket guide and the Destination
Guide).

Mareeba

Mareeba
is a
reasonably
large country
town. It was originally the hub of the
surrounding farming and cattle
country, but is now
getting
more and more things to see and do for travellers. It's also
large
enough
to have some fast food chains, a variety of shops, and a couple of
supermarkets.

Chillagoe

Chillagoe
is a
small outback town on the Burke
Developmental Road
between Mareeba in the east, and Normanton in the west. It is
relatively remote compared to other towns south of Cape York, with
about 150km to Mareeba and about 600km to
Normanton, and in between is nothing but the bush. In
Chillagoe,
there are the historical
smelters ruins
and the famous Chillagoe
Caves.

Port
Douglas

Back on the coast and north of Cairns, Port
Douglas
is a
touristy town and generally I am not a big fan of them. But
Port Douglas keeps its small town feeling, and is actually really
enjoyable. It has some colourful shops, and excellent bars and
restaurants. It also has top class accommodation and lots of different tours to the surrounding
rainforests and the
Great Barrier Reef.

Mt Molloy

Inland from Port Douglas is Mt
Molloy
- a small township with some small basic shops, a pub, and a cafe that
sells the famous Burger of the Lot. There are mining ruins in the
southern
end of the town.

Mt
Carbine

North of
Mt Molloy you drive
through Mt
Carbine,
and the pub is the only thing you see from the main road (particularly
since the roadhouse burned down in late 2013. UPDATE being rebuilt as
of late 2014). There is a working
wolfram mine, a mining monument, and the little Brooklyn Village.

Lakeland

The next town north is Lakeland,
and
that too is one of the smaller towns on the peninsula, with a
roadhouse along
the highway, and a little more in the streets. It's here that the road divides
- Mulligan Highway turns right to Cooktown and the coast, and Peninsula
Developmental Road turns left to Laura and the tip of the peninsula.

Cooktown

Cooktown
is the most interesting of all of the towns if you like history.
It's
the place where Captain
James Cook
and his crew spent the longest time
in Australia - long enough to become known as the 'first white
settlement' in Australia. There is a great museum with displays
about it all,
and
about the rest of the area's history. There is also a great lookout
point, some lovely walks and parks, a historical
cemetery, and the
famous Fisherman's Wharf
- one
of the most popular places to fish
in
the area.

Laura

Inland is
Laura
-
another one of great towns of Cape York with some interesting
history. It's here that the Cooktown
- Laura railway
came during the Palmer River gold rush, and there is some of its
history to see around the town. There is also some of Australia's most
famous Aboriginal rock
art
outside the town.

Coen

Coen
is
the next one north, and now you are in central Cape York.
It is one
of the smallest
towns,
but has the basic shops, a
pub in the
main street, and an interesting history
museum.

Weipa

Weipa
is a sizeable
town in
north western Cape York and
the largest one of the towns on the northern peninsula. The reason for
this is
the
largest bauxite deposit in Australia (and one of the largest in the
world), which is mined here. It is really a mining town
with not a
lot for travellers, but its beauty lies in its red soils and blue
waters, and some great fishing.

Bamaga

Bamaga
is the
largest one of the towns north of Jardine
River.
It is the administrative centre
of the area, but there is not much for travellers. Same goes for the
smaller communities Umagico,
Injinoo, New Mapoon
and
Seisia
(except fishing and island trips), but it does not mean that
the Tip of
Cape York is boring. You don't need touristic things to enjoy
wilderness and interesting culture.

Get
this 50 pages
guide totally for FREE.
It
contains information that helps you getting started with planning of your trip.
You get to make early-stages desicions such as when to go, how long time you
should take, how to get
there and get
around, where
to stay (general info), what
will it cost..
and a short insight to what is there to see and do in Cape York.

This complete 300 pages
travel guide is all you need before and during your trip. Besides the
background chapters on the peninsula's history and wildlife; and the comprehensive detail about all
the places (down to prices, opening hours and full contact
detail), it has invaluable information on at least 10 four wheel drive tracks,
at least 30 guaranteed FREE
camping spots on the Cape (and at least 150 on your way to
the Cape), at least 40 best
swimming holes, all mapped; as well as practical things -
from fuel, roads, wireless internet and mobile phone reception,
how to deal with the national
parks booking rules; and Aboriginal land entrance and camping permits
and alcohol restrictions - to vehicle preparation and accessories and necessary recovery
gear by my partner
Mark who is the recovery guy on northern Cape York and the Old
Telegraph Track).
Not to mention locals'
tips on how to spot that croc and palm cockatoo ;-)

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This site uses British
English, which is the English we use in
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Disclaimer:
Although
best efforts have been made to ensure that all the information on this
website is correct, this site is not to be blamed should there be a
mistake.

As of Winter - Spring 2018 this site is getting upgraded, and the domain name changedfrom the original www.cape-york-australia.com to the new www.capeyorkaustralia.comWhile this is happening, you will find some things under construction, and some photos blurrier than normal, as their new dimensions affect their quality (until they get changed).They need changing one by one - with hundreds of pages it will take some time before the whole site looks good again, but I am gradually working on it as quick as I can.

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